1985 Mexico City
earthquake witn a magnitude of 8.0
struck in the early morning of 19th September at 7:17:50 am. A Mercalli Intensity of IX . The
event caused serious damage to the Greater area of Mexico City and the
deaths of at least 5,000 people. The sequence of events included a foreshock of
magnitude 5.2 that occurred the prior May, the mainshock on september 19th,
and two large aftershocks. The first occurred on september 20th with a magnitude of
7.5 and the occurred seven months later
on april 30th 1986 with a
magnitude of 7.0. They were located off the coast along theMiddle America Trench, more than 350
kilometres (220 mi) away, but the city suffered major damage due to its
large magnitude and the ancient lake bed that Mexico City sits on.
The event caused between three and four billion USD in damage as 412 buildings
collapsed and another 3,124 were seriously damaged in the city.